Preparation pays off as blizzard pounds region

Wednesday

Mar 12, 2014 at 6:19 PMMar 12, 2014 at 6:20 PM

By Melody Burri melody@messengerpostmedia.com

The snow may be falling with a fury, but emergency response teams, highway departments, and law enforcement agencies have been saddled up and ready to go for several days.Ontario County Emergency Management Director Jeff Harloff said Wednesday afternoon his office had been on conference calls throughout the previous 24 hours with the National Weather Service, the New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES), the Ontario County Sheriff, the Ontario County Board of Supervisors chairman, neighboring counties and the New York State Office of Emergency Management.“We’ve received information and pushed out information,” Harloff said, “and if we needed to, we would be the facilitating department to assist the chairman of the Board of Supervisors in declaring a state of emergency. But it’s not likely that will happen.”Ontario County Sheriff Phil Povero said teams all over the county are well prepared to handle the storm.“We’ve been working for a couple of days,” Povero said, “realizing that it’s coming, making sure the 911 Center was staffed accordingly, and that we would have additional police officers working. The corrections staff has been advised they may have to work some extra hours depending on the weather. Thus far the weather forecast has been remarkably accurate.”Ontario County 911 Center Director Stephen DeChick said he had extra dispatchers on duty Wednesday to handle the calls, but thankfully most were about road conditions, vehicles off the road into ditches, and calls for service. Calls for accidents were mainly for property damage only, he said Wednesday afternoon.Povero issued a travel advisory for 1 p.m. through 10 p.m. Wednesday, which strongly discouraged travel except when required for work.DeChick reminded residents who were required to drive to and from work to “take extra time, make sure windshield wipers are working and headlights are on.”“Watch for emergency vehicles along the side of the road,” he said. “And if you have a cell phone, make sure it’s charged. If you are stranded, remain in your vehicle until emergency assistance arrives.”Harloff urged residents Wednesday to simply use common sense.“The weather is bad, so you should not be out driving around just for sightseeing,” he said. “There are going to be periods through the evening where visibility will be near zero. And high winds up to 40 miles per hour will blow snow around, and that’s what’s decreasing visibility."The fewer vehicles there are on the road, he said, the easier it is for emergency vehicles and snow plows to move about freely and safely. Even so, the snow will not be completely dealt with immediately.“Don’t expect clear roads unless you’re following a snowplow,” Harloff said. “The reality is, it’s snowing and travel is going to be difficult. You need to exercise patience, and caution, and plan for a lengthy commute time.”He also urged motorists who absolutely must travel to and from work during a storm like this to make sure they have enough fuel in their vehicle, and to make sure all their windows are clear, including back and side windows, so they’re able to see an emergency vehicle if it’s coming.“The message is being heeded on the potential for bad driving conditions and people are staying home — that’s what’s saving us,” said Povero.He credited the “wise decision to close the schools” for reducing a tremendous amount of traffic on the roads. All local school districts closed Wednesday for the storm.“That, combined with many businesses and offices closing has reduced traffic,” Povero said. “The 911 Center is reporting a decreased number of calls at this point.”“We really encourage people to stay home, stay warm, enjoy some family time together, and let the highway crews do their job,” Povero said. “They’re keeping up remarkably with the snow.”Harloff said thousands of people statewide are working on the snow event, and he, along with many county departments, will be “collectively monitoring the situation and conditions throughout the evening and on Thursday.””The reality is, we live in upstate New York,” Harloff said. “This is one of the four seasons, and we have snow. But we will get through this, and tomorrow will be better. We’re only supposed to get a couple of inches. And Friday it will be 40 degrees.”